All We Want for Christmas
by NaruDeeds
Summary: Exactly one year after "All I Want For Christmas," Naruto is Hokage and has been married to his assistant, Sakura, for six months now. However, their relationship hasn't been going as either expected. Can they fix everything in time for Christmas?
1. December 23

Merry Christmas! Here's a sequel to "All I Want for Christmas." It's a bit of a different story that I usually write, but before you get angry and go, "what the hell NaruDeeds?" I would like to remind you all that I'm a fan of happy endings =) I originally intended to release this story the same way as I did "All I Want for Christmas" last year- with each chapter being released on its corresponding date. But that didn't work out this time around.

You can read and understand this story without reading "All I Want For Christmas," but I HIGHLY recommend reading the first one. And it won't hurt to read "The Sakura Ball" (the first sequel to "All I Want for Christmas") either.

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else Naruto would have Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as a summon! Well... not really. But hey, it's Christmas, I need the disclaimer to be Christmas themed right?

Alright. On we go to the show! Please do enjoy "All We Want for Christmas" - December 23

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><p>A 21-year-old Sakura Uzumaki stood in the orphanage watching the children open the gifts that Naruto had gotten for them with a smile on her face just as fake as her husband's. This was a happy occasion, a very happy occasion, and both of the Uzumaki's were determined to not let the children think there was unrest between them. They didn't want to distract the kids from their happy day…<p>

Now that Sakura thought about it, this was really the first thing they had agreed on in months… Although neither of them verbally said anything, they had both become very good at wearing masks over the years.

"Whoah! This is exactly what I wanted! Thanks Hokage-sama!" A small boy missing his two front teeth grinned happily.

"It's Naruto. Na-ru-to!" Naruto groaned, which caused Sakura's fake smile to briefly flicker to a real one. He had been Hokage for almost a year now and he still hated being called by his title. There were just some things about Naruto that would never change.

"Ah ah ah Hokage-sama, we need to teach our children proper respect." The old woman who ran the orphanage chided.

"But…"

"You spent how many years trying to obtain the title of Hokage?" Sakura teased. "Some would think you would be more receptive to being called by your title now that you've finally obtained it." Her mood was just starting to improve thanks to Naruto's antics.

Naruto looked at Sakura with a bashful grin on his face, but Sakura could see the pain hidden deep in his eyes and her mood crashed back down.

"I just don't want people treating me differently just because I'm Hokage." Naruto explained to Sakura as if she didn't know that. Of course Sakura knew the reason Naruto hated being called "Hokage-sama!" They had been married for six months, did he really think that…

Sakura took a deep breath and widened her fake smile. "I was just teasing _Hokage-sama_."

"Ohoho, see Hokage-sama, even your wife knows the importance of referring to you by your title." The old woman chuckled.

"Jeez, talking about getting ganged up on. But I'm sure all of the children are with me right? You're all with Naruto-nii chan?"

"Of course Hokage-sama!" All the orphans chirped in perfect unison.

"No love." Naruto sighed with a small smile on his face.

"Are you gonna stay and play with us Hokage-sama?" One of the younger orphans asked with a hopeful smile on her young face.

Naruto looked over to Sakura with an almost pleading look on his face. Sakura sighed. He always did this. He always tried to get her to give him permission to do things even though he had no extra time on his schedule. He basically constantly set her up to be the bad guy.

Sakura knew he didn't do it on purpose, he just didn't think about the position he was always putting her in. Of course Sakura wanted to stay here and play with all of the kids for a while, especially with Naruto. It always warmed her heart to see him around children.

But Naruto had an important meeting with all of the clan heads in 15 minutes, Sakura would not only be shirking her duties, but she would be doing a disservice to her entire village if she let Naruto skip out on his meeting. She mentally sighed and prepared herself for the pouts and disappointed frowns of all the children.

"You have a meeting with all of the clan heads in 15 minutes Naruto, we need to get going."

"Awww!" All the children chorused with giant frowns on their faces.

"That meeting isn't that important, and they really want me to stay!" Naruto protested.

Sakura couldn't completely hide the angry expression from her face. It seemed like making her the bad guy wasn't good enough for Naruto. He had to go and make her into the supervillain. All of the kids were going to hate her at this point.

"It's a very important meeting _Hokage-sama_. You're meeting with the clan heads to discuss Konoha's budget for next year. It's December 23 and you still haven't finalized a budget. This is not a meeting that Konoha can afford for you to miss."

"Sorry kids, but my assistant here is making me go to some stupid meeting." Naruto pandered to the children as he rolled his eyes, which only caused Sakura to clench her fist tightly.

"I'm sorry! We'll make it up to you and stop by again soon when the Hokage doesn't have so many important meetings, ok?" Sakura attempted to compromise. She didn't want to be the bad guy to all of these kids.

Unfortunately for Sakura, Naruto had painted her as the bad guy, and the children saw the picture Naruto inadvertently painted. They merely nodded their heads and their frowns didn't leave their faces.

"Oh don't be like that, the Hokage is a very important and busy person! And Sakura-sama is in charge of his schedule. If she says they'll be back soon, then they'll be back soon. Now thank Hokage-sama and Sakura-sama for your gifts children."

"Thank you Hokage-sama! Sakura-sama…" Sakura noted that the children did not have as much enthusiasm when they said her name. She felt bad, but her duty was to Konoha first. These kids would not be able to enjoy the comfort of the orphanage if Konoha didn't finalize a budget for the following year.

"I'll see you all soon." Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and gave the kids one final wave as they walked out of the orphanage. Sakura could tell by the way Naruto was holding her hand that he really didn't want to be holding her hand.

But he was the Hokage, and as such, he had an image to uphold. The Hokage was the leader of the village, who everyone inspired to be like. It just wouldn't do for the Hokage to be having marital problems. If the Hokage was married, then he had to be happily married and his relationship had to be perfect.

Sakura sighed. So far, marriage was nothing like she had imagined it would be when she was a little girl. She always dreamed that she would find a guy, fall in love and live happily ever after. She figured once she found someone to love, everything else would fall into place.

Sakura found the guy she loved. Even with the problems they were having, Sakura didn't doubt for a second that she loved Naruto with all of her heart. But the first six months of marriage had been far more difficult than she would have ever expected.

The first month of marriage was pure bliss; it was easily one of the best months of her entire life. Despite how exhausted they both were after a long day of work, both still made time for each other when they got home. They were too busy enjoying being married to argue about anything.

But then that blissful and surreal feeling that came with getting married started to wear off, and they started fighting. Sometimes it was about something more serious- like whose job it was to do chores around the house; and other times they fought over the stupidest things- like baby names for a child neither of them wanted to have for a couple of years.

The past three months especially had gotten bad- Naruto's natural messiness grinded on Sakura's nerves, and Sakura's obsession with cleanliness grinded on Naruto's. Mix that together with the fact that they both have extremely stressful and demanding jobs, and that their jobs force them to be together at all times and you have a recipe for a lot of fighting.

Sakura had fought more with Naruto over the past three months than she had during the rest of her life combined. And she hated it. She hated fighting with him, she hated having to plaster a fake smile on her face everywhere she went, and she _hated_ seeing Naruto's fake smile all the time.

The few times she had tried to sit Naruto down and just talk everything out hadn't gone well either. Her temper made those discussions fall apart quickly. Sometimes Sakura really wondered if she made a mistake in accepting Naruto's marriage proposal last Christmas. Yes she loved him, but they had only been dating for a little over a day.

Maybe if she would have waited longer she wouldn't be scared that she was in a failing marriage. That single thought had haunted Sakura's thoughts for a month now. She knew that if she and Naruto didn't make this marriage work, their relationship would end, but even more, their friendship would end as well. They were too far in to go back to being friends.

A powerful gust of wind blew across the ground, causing Sakura to shiver. Before her body could even finish it's shiver, a familiar cloak was being put on her shoulders. Sakura looked up at Naruto to see genuine concern in his eyes and smiled.

Small acts like this showed Sakura that Naruto still cared. Small acts like this affirmed for Sakura that their marriage wasn't a total lost cause. They were not in a failing marriage yet, they were still just in the fighting stage. The two of them could still pull out of this somehow…

"You didn't have to." Sakura mumbled, but she was very appreciative of the added warmth of Naruto's Hokage cloak.

"But I wanted to."

"Well thanks."

No other words were spoken as the couple quietly walked hand-in-hand back to the Hokage Tower for Naruto's meeting. They finally stopped in front of the entrance to the office where Naruto's meeting was scheduled to take place in a few minutes.

"Well…thanks for keeping me on task Sakura." Naruto said. "This is going to take the rest of the day, you can go home now."

Sakura hesitated. She didn't want to go home. Not without her husband. One of the many downsides of being in a struggling marriage was that whenever she was home alone, she secretly worried that Naruto would decide to end their marriage and never come home…

But there really was no point for her to be in the meeting. The Hokage's assistant did not make decisions about Konoha's budget, the Hokage did with input from the clan heads, and then with approval from the civilian council.

"Alright, have a good meeting." Sakura turned to leave but stopped herself when she realized she was still wearing Naruto's cloak. "I guess you'll probably need this back."

"Nah keep it, it looks better on you than it does me anyways." Naruto replied with an actual smile. Sakura returned his smile. If only they could be like this all the time. If only they didn't constantly fight over who was going to do this, and who was going to do that…

Sakura took a deep breath and gathered up her courage. Seeing flashes of her Naruto gave Sakura the courage she needed. They needed to talk; they needed to work on their marriage, because love couldn't magically fix everything.

"Would you mind doing me a favor?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Depends what it is." Naruto replied with a forced "teasing" smile. Sakura hated when he did that. When they first got married six months ago Naruto's answer to her asking him for a favor would always be a solid and emphatic yes without a second thought.

"Please come straight home after work. We really need to have a talk." Sakura implored with a slightly pleading look in her eyes.

"I can do that. Do you want a ride back home or are you ok walking?"

"I'll walk thanks, I think I'm going to stop by and visit Ino since I'm getting off early."

"Well… have fun then."

"I'll see you after work, love you." Sakura offered her husband a weak smile.

"Love you too Sakura-chan." Naruto replied with a weak smile of his own before turning and entering the office.

Sakura watched the door close, sighed, and started walking down the stairs to leave the Hokage's Tower.

* * *

><p>"<em>We really need to have a talk."<em> Sakura's words were ringing through Naruto's mind as he walked to his desk. The clan heads were already gathered.

What did Sakura mean by they need to have a talk? What if she wanted to…

"Good to see you Hokage-sama." Shikaku Nara greeted, interrupting Naruto's thoughts.

Naruto took a deep breath. He was the Hokage now, he couldn't let his personal life get in the way; he had a job to do. He would freak about Sakura's words after this meeting.

"Same to you Shikaku-san." Naruto cordially replied. "I would exchange more pleasantries, but it's almost Christmas, I'm sure everyone in this room wants to get this meeting over with so we can all be with our families. So I think we'll just get this meeting underway."

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><p>"Ino, are you home?" Sakura called out as she walked into her best friend's house. Most people would consider it rude to just barge into someone's house uninvited, or even without knocking, but Ino had opened her home to Sakura over the past few months as Sakura and Naruto's marriage continued to get more and more strained.<p>

Ino was one of the few people in the entire world other than Sakura and Naruto who knew the truth about their marriage. The villagers all thought their Hokage and his wife were happy and living the perfect life, because that's the image the leader of a village had to portray. But Sakura needed someone to talk to when things got too bad. Ino had stepped up in a big way, and Sakura was grateful for that.

"I'm upstairs Sakura! I'll be down in a minute." The familiar voice of her best friend called. Sakura took a seat on the couch in Ino and Shikamaru's spacious living room and absent-mindedly stroked Naruto's cloak while she waited for her friend. She got so distracted by Naruto's cloak, that she didn't even hear Ino come down the stairs.

"Nice cloak Sakura." Ino smirked. "Looks like things are going better with Naruto."

"Today was…nice." Sakura admitted with a small smile. "We fought some in the morning, but we went to the orphanage today…"

"It's hard to be mad at him when you watch him hand presents to those kids isn't it?" Ino chuckled as she remembered watching Naruto distribute gifts to the orphans last year.

"Yeah…" Sakura smiled softly. "And there flashes of my old Naruto today… The Naruto before we got married, the Naruto before he was Hokage… It was nice."

"My it sounds like a good day then." Ino smiled. "So does that mean you're not here to talk about your marriage with everyone's favorite hokage then?"

"When you say it like that Ino you make it sound like that's all I ever talk to you about!" Sakura huffed.

"Well…"

"We talk about a lot more than that!"

"I'm just teasing you Sakura." Ino laughed at the indignant look on her best friend's face. "So what's up?"

"Well… actually I did come here to talk about Naruto." Sakura admitted with a sheepish smile. "I asked Naruto to come straight home after work today so we could have a talk. Just seeing him today… it gave me the courage I needed to do something. I have a good feeling Ino, I really do. I just feel like we can talk about everything and figure out how to make everything work again."

"That's great!" Ino yelled excitedly. "But I've heard this story from you before. You tell me that you and Naruto are going to have a talk, and then the next day you come storming into my house screaming about what an idiot he is and then I find out later that the Hokage "slipped" and somehow hit the top of his head…

"Ahhh, yeah…" Sakura chuckled. "I just have a feeling Ino, I have a feeling that won't happen this time. Maybe it's this day. It was on this day last year that I finally broke through his stubborn defenses and we started dating. This was a magical day for us last year, and I know it's going to be a magical day for us again."

"So what are you planning on talking to him about then?" Ino questioned. "You know since you're the one who asked for the talk, you are probably going to be the one who has to start the conversation."

"I don't know… Everything I guess. I'll tell him how much I hate it when he makes me the villain, that I work hard too and don't want to do chores when I get home, but we both need to, I'll tell him about how important it is for us to keep our apartment clean, I'll…"

"It sounds like this is going to end the same as all of your last talks ended Sakura." Ino interrupted with a sigh.

"What? No way! I saw my Naruto today. This time is definitely going to be different."

"No it's not. Sakura… a marriage is a lot more work than people advertise."

"I know that, that's why we're going to…"

"You don't seem to know that." Ino interrupted. "Right now, you're putting all the blame on Naruto, but you guys are in your marriage together. You aren't perfect either."

"How is any of this my fault? He's the baka who doesn't see the importance in cleaning, or doing his share of the chores or…"

"And I'm sure Naruto has gripes about you just like those." Ino interrupted. "As I said Sakura, marriages are a lot of work, for _both_ husband and wife. You two both need to realize that you're not perfect, and that you need to grow _together_."

Sakura had her mouth open to retort, but promptly snapped it shut. What Ino said did make sense…

"So what do you suggest then?" Sakura quietly asked as the revelation that she could partially be blame as well for her struggling marriage sank in.

"Jeez what am I, your psychiatrist?" Ino let out an exasperated sigh. "What do you think Forehead? Tell him what you don't like about your marriage and ask him what he doesn't like. Then, without getting pissed off, work everything out."

"You make it sound so easy…" Sakura muttered.

Ino smiled. "I do, don't I? Luckily Shikamaru and I have less stressful jobs, and haven't had the marital problems you and Naruto are having, so I can't say from experience, but it's going to be hard- especially for you. You have to keep that temper in check."

"Thanks for the pep talk Ino." Sakura sighed with a small smile on her face. Ino could very well have just saved her marriage with her advice. "But seriously… thanks."

"Oh don't thank me, once you and Naruto patch everything up we'll finally be able to go out and do couple things together!"

Sakura chuckled. "Right. Well, I'm going to go home and make some ramen for dinner."

"Ooh smart." Ino grinned. "It's hard for Naruto to be anything but giddy when you're feeding him ramen."

"That's the plan." Sakura returned Ino's grin. "Thanks again Ino, I mean it."

"No problem. Of course you know that this advice comes with the requirement you give me ALL the details later."

Sakura chuckled at her friend and nodded her head before leaving to go to her house to get prepared for the upcoming night.

* * *

><p>Evening light was caressing the streets of Konoha as Naruto slowly trotted home. The budget meeting dragged on and on, and as a result, Naruto's very brain was aching from being subjected to such dull boredom. But he couldn't complain, he happily signed up for the job.<p>

Naruto's thoughts were now far removed from the meeting though. Now his weary brain was working in overdrive to analyze Sakura's words. What did she want to talk about? He tried to remember her body posture, to see if there were any hints, but his brain was too exhausted.

He didn't know what Sakura wanted to talk about, but Naruto knew it wasn't good. Every time he and Sakura had a "talk" it ended with the two of them bickering, and eventually him sleeping out on the couch. They hadn't tried to have a "talk" for a month and a half, but that's because both of them knew how pointless the "talk" would be.

_What if Sakura wants to get divorced…_ Naruto's panicked mind repeated the thought that had been swirling around it since the word "talk" came out of her pretty mouth.

Naruto wasn't sure what he would do if Sakura wanted a divorce… He loved her so much, and he finally got her to love him back. He achieved his dream. He wasn't sure if he could handle having that dream ripped from him.

The familiar aroma of ramen wafted into Naruto's nose as he neared Ichiraku's. He promised Sakura he would return straight home after work… but he was getting close to freaking out. A bowl of ramen from Ichiraku's would calm him down so he could face whatever Sakura was preparing to throw at him.

Naruto walked into the ramen stand and plastered a fake smile on his face. He was now a symbol to his entire village. As Hokage he had to be strong, caring, determined, compassionate, but most importantly of all… Naruto had to be happy. His villagers needed to see their leader smiling.

"Ah Naruto, good to see you!" A familiar voice greeted as Naruto pulled the tent flap aside.

"Iruka-sensei, good to see you too." Naruto replied.

"Hokage-sama, thank you for stopping by!" Teuchi greeted.

"Na-ru-to Teuchi." Naruto sighed to the amusement of the ramen owner.

"Miso ramen?"

"You know me so well Teuchi." Naruto replied with an honest smile. Words would never be able to fully describe just how grateful Naruto was for Teuchi's kindness.

"I'm surprised to see you here tonight Naruto." Another voice said. Naruto turned to see Kakashi flashing him a one-eyed smile.

"Kakashi-sensei? I didn't see you there."

"You must be losing your touch then." Another voice called. Naruto looked one more seat down and was surprised to find Sasuke.

"Sasuke? Jeez, I must be if I didn't notice an arrogant prick like you sitting there." Naruto joked which got a slightly irritated scowl out of his friend.

"So what are you doing here tonight Naruto?" Iruka asked. "I would have expected for you to be with Sakura today."

"I had a meeting that Sakura-chan didn't need to be in, so I let her go home early." Naruto answered, purposefully not directly answering Iruka's question.

"You don't look to be in a meeting now, so why are you here instead of home with Sakura then dobe?" Sasuke asked. Naruto mentally scowled at his friend for forcing him to actually answer Iruka's question.

"Oh you know me; I can't resist a bowl of Ichiraku's on my way home." Naruto chuckled as he widened his fake smile to sell his story.

"No you can't." Iruka agreed with a smile on his face.

"Why are you all here tonight?" Naruto countered praying to kami that Iruka, Kakashi and Sasuke would get distracted with their reason and forget about the reason Naruto was currently sitting in the ramen stand.

"Tsunade wanted to take Shizune and Keiko shopping for Christmas." Iruka explained. "So I had nothing to do tonight."

"Kakashi and I are just here for dinner." Sasuke said when Naruto's eyes landed on him.

"So that's why we're all here. Now why don't you tell us why you're really here right now?" Kakashi "asked" but it sounded a lot more like an order.

"What?" Naruto innocently asked, while silently cursing his sensei for being even more observant than Sasuke. "What do you mean why I'm really here? I told you, I'm just here for a bowl of ramen!"

"Are you and Sakura fighting again?" Sasuke asked. He really didn't feel like dancing around the subject all night.

"Again? What makes you say again? And what makes you think we're fighting?" Naruto sputtered.

"We've known you your entire life Naruto." Iruka sighed.

"Do you really think at this point you can fool us with your masks anymore?" Kakashi added with another one of his signature one-eyed smiles.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about." Naruto lied. He wanted to tell them, he wanted to tell them that he was trying to prepare himself for his conversation with Sakura where she was probably going to tell him she wanted a divorce… But he couldn't. They were his precious people, but they were also his villagers.

Naruto still had a duty to all three of these men to remain perfect. He couldn't allow them to see anything less.

"We know you've been having problems with Sakura for the past four months Naruto." Sasuke sighed. "We know both of you very well, and we can easily see the smiles you guys force on your faces in public are fake."

Naruto's eyes widened in panic. Were he and Sakura really that easy to see through? Did the villagers see through them? What if…

"Relax Naruto, we can only see through your smiles because we know you so well. The villagers don't suspect anything." Iruka reassured as he saw the look of panic flood across the face of the man he viewed as a little brother.

"But I think that confirms you're having some sort of problem." Kakashi added.

Naruto looked at the faces of his three friends. They each had a look plastered on their faces that essentially said they weren't going to drop this.

"Fine. I just need a bowl of ramen to calm myself down." Naruto finally admitted.

"Did you guys have another fight?" Sasuke reiterated his original question.

"Not yet… But it's only a matter of time. It seems like that's all we do now."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Iruka asked.

"I don't know… She's just… she changed after we got married. Suddenly everything had to be perfectly organized. All of our groceries must be put away in perfect alphabetical order; our spices are organized in alphabetical order… It's ridiculous! Who the heck cares? As long as they're put away it should be good enough!"

"Is that so?" Iruka asked with a small smile. He could tell that Naruto had needed to get this off his chest for a while.

"Yeah, and she's so crazy about keeping our apartment clean! If I so much as leave a sock on the floor it's like it's the end of the world! And then there's the chores… I'm the freaking Hokage! By the time I get off work I don't really feel like doing chores, but I'm willing to do them if they need to be done… But she wants them done when they don't need to be! She pesters me to do laundry when we still have plenty of clean clothes, to do the dishes when we only have a few that are dirty…" Naruto ranted. It felt surprisingly good to let all of his frustrations out.

"And don't even get me started on the trash… There will be a half bag full and Sakura will want it taken out! And then there's everything else… I have to put everything away at exactly the right spot! EVERYTHING! Even something as stupid as scrolls has a particular spot they HAVE to go! Kami help me if I leave a scroll on a table!"

"How awful. What a terrible woman." Sasuke said in a very sarcastic tone as he rolled his eyes.

"She's not terrible." Naruto sighed. "It just wasn't like this when we were engaged. When we were engaged she didn't nag me on all of those things… She was more understanding of how stressful my position is… That all changed when we got married. I don't know what I can do anymore… Every time we've tried to talk about it we just end up fighting."

"So Sakura is the reason for your marital problems then?" Kakashi asked.

"Well… Sort of… If she would just lighten up a little… OW!"

"I taught you better than that." Iruka sighed as he slapped Naruto in the back of the head.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're married now." Kakashi smiled. "Marriage is a lot of work."

"I know that!" Naruto protested.

"Apparently not." Sasuke sighed.

"How the hell do you know teme!"

Kakashi withdrew his little orange book and waved it in Naruto's face. "Unlike you, Sasuke here recognizes how excellent Jiraiya-sama's books are."

"Those pervy books?"

"Jiraiya had a surprisingly good understanding of women." Sasuke explained.

"That old pervert? That's a load of crap!"

"That's not important." Iruka interjected. "What's important is that you realize that marriage is a lot of work. Just because you're in love doesn't mean everything will magically work out. You two need to work together."

"I try!" Naruto protested. "But she doesn't seem to want to! She just expects me to do everything without question! She's not working with me!"

"Sounds like you aren't working with her." Teuchi chuckled as he placed a bowl of steaming ramen in front of his favorite customer.

"WHAT?"

"Have you ever considered that perhaps you're not perfect yourself?" Sasuke asked.

"I know I'm not perfect! But this isn't my fault!"

"With how much you obsessed over Sakura's happiness when you two were growing up I'm surprised you haven't figured it out." Kakashi smiled. "But I suppose the stress of being the leader of the village makes it easier for you to miss things you normally would have caught."

"What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei?"

"He's talking about the fact that Sakura probably has complaints about your marriage too Naruto." Sasuke sighed.

"Yep." Kakashi confirmed. "Have you ever once asked her what her frustrations with your marriage are?"

"Well, I…" The answer to that question was a definite no. All of their talks usually were Naruto complaining about how crazy Sakura was about doing the chores and cleaning, and Sakura complaining how unorganized and messy Naruto was… And then yelling… and then a night on the couch for Naruto. He had never once asked her what she would like improved…

"And have you ever calmly told Sakura what your frustrations with your marriage are?" Iruka pressed.

"Ah…" Again, that answer was no.

"And have you ever considered that her job is just as stressful as yours?" Teuchi added.

"Her job isn't just as stressful as mine!" Naruto protested. "Her job is stressful, but a mistake by her doesn't doom the entire village! She doesn't have to be perfect!"

"And neither do you, but that's a conversation for another time." Kakashi retorted. "Put yourself in Sakura's shoes. Your husband, who you love very much, has finally achieved one of his greatest dreams and is the leader of the village. Now he tends to be disorganized, and has a history of jumping into action without fully thinking things through."

"I do not have…"

"Yes you do." Kakashi interrupted. "So if you're Sakura, you are in charge of keeping the leader of the village organized, and on top of that, he's your husband, so you need to keep him organized so he can succeed in the dream he's achieved."

"I… Well, I didn't think about it like that." Naruto finally admitted. He knew that Sakura worked hard, but he always just assumed he had the more stressful position by far. But when Kakashi put it like that…

"Well you need to." Iruka smiled. "The next talk you have with Sakura, make sure you think about things from her point of view. If you do that, you guys will be fine."

Naruto smiled, maybe there was hope yet. "I think I'll do that."

"Good! Now since I have a free night, let's get some sake to celebrate Naruto getting his marriage back on track!" Iruka didn't like to drink often, and now that he had a daughter, he didn't have a chance to drink often; but he was in a celebratory mood tonight."

Naruto knew that he should say no, and that he should finish his ramen and go home to his wife, as he said he was going to do… But even with the advice he received, he was still scared of the "talk" Sakura wanted to have. He wasn't sure if he was ready to use the advice he just received.

"Sounds good to me." Naruto finally agreed while mentally apologizing to Sakura. He just wasn't ready yet to face her conversation, and he wasn't ready to use the advice he just received. He hated himself for being afraid, he had never backed down from anything… But the prospect of losing Sakura after finally gaining her love… It terrified Naruto.

_I'll just have a little bit._ Naruto reasoned. _Then I'll go home to Sakura-chan. _

"Four bottles of sake Teuchi!" Iruka grinned.

* * *

><p>The smell of homemade ramen wafted through the apartment as Sakura busied herself getting ready for her husband's return home. She was wearing the exact outfit she wore one year ago when she finally broke through Naruto's defenses- her white spaghetti strap tank top that left her belly exposed, and tight black cloth shorts. She was even wearing the exact same pair of black lace panties and the exact same black lace bra. Tonight was going to be perfect.<p>

_Naruto is probably going to be home soon._ Sakura thought with an excited smile. He would get home and then they could fix everything. She was finally going to get things back on track with the man she loved.

She pulled a bottle of red wine out of their cabinet and poured two glasses. She then walked around their apartment lighting candles and finally turned off the lights in their apartment so the apartment was lit up by soft candle light.

It was only a matter of time now… Her husband would be home, and they would fix everything. Sakura sat down on the couch with an excited smile on her face and awaited her husband's return.

* * *

><p>Naruto was feeling a little warm as he knocked back another cup of sake with his two former senseis and his best friend. Despite his original plan to only drink a little bit of sake then go home to Sakura, he was already on his second bottle of sake. He had a hard time saying no when Iruka offered to buy him a second bottle. Especially when the alternative was going home and having Sakura try to divorce him…<p>

A small voice in the back of his head was screaming at him to stop and go home to Sakura and work with Sakura to fix their marriage… but that small voice was being drowned out by sake. Besides, Sakura wouldn't be able to stay angry when he fixed their marriage right?

* * *

><p>Sakura was starting to get worried as she took the ramen off the stove top. She couldn't keep it on the stove any longer or else it would be overcooked… even on low! She had the agenda for Naruto's budget meeting memorized; there was no way that it was still going on.<p>

She knew she shouldn't be worried about his safety, he was one of the most powerful men in the world, in the safety of one of the most powerful villages in the world AND he was guarded by an ANBU squad. But the only other option was that Naruto didn't come straight home as he promised.

But that just didn't make sense. Naruto _always_ fulfilled his promises. Always. He promised her he would come straight home after work, so he would be home right after work.

"Maybe something came out of that meeting that he had to do right away…" Sakura mumbled to herself. "Yeah, that's it. Naruto will be home soon." She reassured herself.

Sakura walked over to her couch, laid down and flipped the TV on while she waited for her husband to return home.

_Naruto wants to work on our marriage just as much as I do… He promised me he would come straight home so we could talk._

* * *

><p>"Thasss right." Iruka drunkenly grinned. "That's what you and have to look forward to Naruto."<p>

Iruka, Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto had been drinking for quite some time now. They were each on their fifth bottle of sake, and were all quite drunk. Naruto's original plan to only drink a little bit and go home was definitely out the window.

"Ohhh great." Naruto chuckled. "As if Sakura's temper isn't bad enough right now."

"Yourr gonna have to perfectly behaved when Sakura's pregnant or else your head is going to get punched off!" Sasuke grinned.

"Hehehe, Sasuke… you're drunk."

"Am not." Sasuke shot back. "You're drunk!"

"I…I may be a little." Naruto grinned.

"Well I think I'm going to call it a night." Kakashi announced. Even though he had drunk so much sake and was pretty drunk himself, he seemed to be perfectly fine. If Gai were here he would be going on and on about how "hip" and "cool" Kakashi was…

"That's probably a good idea." Iruka agreed.

"I guess I'll go home to my wife now…and I'll fix everything!" Naruto drunkenly quipped.

"Goood luck Hokage-sama." Iruka slurred.

"Don't need it!" Naruto got up and wobbled a little bit as he struggled to maintain his balance. "Thanks for the food and drink Teuchi!"

"I'll see you again soon I'm sure." Teuchi replied.

"Right! I'm off then!" Naruto waved one last time to his friends and started drunkenly stumble home. He wasn't worried about the conversation his wife wanted to have with him. He had no fear anymore; he was definitely going to fix everything!

* * *

><p>Sakura's eyes slowly opened to the very dim light in her apartment. The candles had almost burnt out. She sat up and looked around her apartment and frowned when she saw no signs of her husband, or that he even returned home.<p>

Her eyes found a clock and widened when she realized it was one in the morning. There was no way Naruto wouldn't be home by now… Not when he promised to come home straight after work.

_What if something happened to him?_ Sakura worried. _What if something happens to him before we can fix everything…_

Her worried thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone fiddling with the door handle to her apartment. She channeled chakra to her fist, preparing to deal with whoever was trying to get into her and Naruto's apartment until she heard a voice she recognized quite well humming.

The door opened and Naruto stumbled in. Sakura's heart dropped when she saw him. He was drunk. Extremely drunk. He not only broke his promise, but he broke his promise to get drunk. He chose to get drunk instead of working on their marriage together.

"Sakura-chaaan!" Naruto slurred when his eyes landed on her. "What's going on in here? It looks nice. _You_ look nice."

Sakura took a calming breath. Naruto promised her. Naruto wouldn't break his promise; he had to have some sort of explanation. Maybe the clan leaders decided they wanted to go out for drinks…

"Where were you?" Sakura quietly asked as she looked deep into his sapphire eyes.

"Ichiraku's!" Naruto grinned. "I stopped for a bowl of ramen, then…"

"YOU WHAT?" Sakura yelled. She wanted to cry, she wanted to sob… Naruto had just confirmed with his actions that he didn't to work on their marriage… It hurt… But Sakura hated crying, she felt like the weak little girl she used to be when she cried.

"Yeeeeah! And Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and even Sasuke were there! And they gave me all this advice! I…"

"You promised me you would come straight home Naruto." Sakura quietly interrupted.

"Well I…"

"You broke your promise to me Naruto… you've never broken a promise to me before." Sakura nearly whispered. "You chose to get drunk instead of work on our marriage with me."

"Work on our marriage? You were going to…"

"Save it Naruto." Sakura seethed as her anger started to build. "You don't want to work on our marriage? Fine. I won't try to make you work on it anymore."

"Sakura I…"

"Shut up Naruto!" Sakura yelled angrily. She knew what she had to do now. She couldn't fix their marriage on her own… and Naruto didn't want to help her fix it. So that only left her with one option. It was an option straight out of her nightmares, but it was now the only option she had left.

Sakura shoved her welling sorrow aside and called upon her determination. What she was about to say had to be said. Even if she didn't want to say it.

"I want a divorce." Sakura whispered as she focused on maintaining the angry glare on her face. She couldn't let Naruto see her pain… her weakness. She was no longer the weak little girl she used to be.

"WHAT? Sakura…"

"No Naruto. Tonight said all I needed to know. You don't want to fix our marriage. If you don't want to fix it, there's no point in us trying to maintain it. The longer we do this, the worse it's going to be in the end."

"No, you don't…"

"You're sleeping on the couch tonight. I'm going to move in with my parents tomorrow, you can keep the apartment." Sakura again interrupted.

"You don't want to do this! I…I know what to do now!" Naruto drunkenly retorted, his eyes wide with terror. "And this is your apartment, you don't want to leave it."

Sakura's eyes widened. "This is _my_ apartment?" She hissed.

"Well… yeah! I moved into your apartment with you, I…"

"THIS WAS OUR APARTMENT!" Sakura roared. She didn't know why it made her so angry that Naruto didn't consider their apartment his… but her blood boiled in rage.

"But…"

"No Naruto. No buts. I don't want to hear anything else from you. Shut up and go to sleep. I'm going to have Shizune take over as your assistant. I can't be near you. Now I'm going to bed."

"Sakura!"

Sakura ignored her soon to be ex husband, stormed into their bedroom and slammed the door shut. She jumped onto the bed that had been so magical a year ago and her tears finally started falling.

"Sakura…please don't do this." Naruto begged from the other side of the door. "I know how to fix it! I love you!"

"I love you too Naruto." Sakura whispered too quietly for her drunk husband to hear as more tears continued to pour from her eyes. She wanted to believe that he knew how to fix everything... but he was drunk. He chose to get drunk instead of coming home as he promised. Naruto had proven with his actions tonight that he did not want to fix their marriage... She wanted to get up, throw the door open and drag Naruto into bed with her... She wanted everything to be perfect again... But that wasn't possible anymore. Their marriage had officially failed...

"Go to bed Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto leaned his forehead against the door to Sakura's bedroom. He was absolutely terrified and he had a giant pit in his stomach. He thought about trying to reason with Sakura more… But he knew he was drunk, and Sakura was furious.

He mentally scolded himself for giving into his fear. But it was too late to go back now. He held back the tears that were threatening to fall. He knew how to fix everything… Tomorrow he would talk to his wife. Tomorrow Naruto would make everything better.

He stumbled over to the couch and plopped down.

_Don't worry Sakura-chan… I'll make this all better... That's a promise. _A smile found its way onto Naruto's face. He was definitely going to fix everything tomorrow. He would still get to give Sakura her Christmas gift that he had worked so hard on... that he knew she would love so much.

* * *

><p>Oh no! What kind of asshole writer writes a NaruSaku Christmas story where they get a divorce! RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!<p>

Feel free to leave your thoughts on this chapter, or just wait to review on the third one! December 24 is going to be up soon, and I'll be writing December 25 right after that! Morale of the story- all three chapters of the story are going to be posted tonight =)


	2. December 24

Alright! Second part! Third part is on the way =)

Standard disclaimer- the same as the last chapter.

Please do enjoy, "All We Want For Christmas" - December 24

* * *

><p>Sakura's heavy eyes snapped open as early morning light poured through her and Naruto's bedroom window… She had cried all last night until she went to sleep. Still, she willed herself to wake up early. She knew after getting so drunk last night Naruto wouldn't be waking up until it was nearly afternoon…and that was perfect.<p>

She loved Naruto… she loved him so much. She knew that if he was awake he would try to stop her from going through with what needed to be done… And she also knew that he would probably be able to convince her to stop.

But it was pointless. Even if she stayed, even if her threat to divorce him scared Naruto, it would only last for a little while. He didn't want to work on their marriage. Eventually, things would fall apart again. She didn't want to divorce Naruto… but she had to. It was the only option left now.

She got up and quickly sealed her clothes into a couple of storage scrolls. She didn't want to take anything else in this apartment… Anything else would only remind her of her failed marriage with Naruto.

She took off both her wedding and engagement rings and stared sadly at her engagement ring. It was such a beautiful ring, but her favorite part had always been what was imprinted on the inside of the band.

"_I'll love you forever, promise of a lifetime." _A tear slipped down Sakura's cheek. She wished so badly that love would make everything work… But it just wasn't enough. They needed to grow together, and Naruto proved last night that he wasn't interested in growing with her.

Sakura put the rings down on their…no, his dresser, and grabbed the scrolls she had sealed all of her clothes in. She needed to leave now before she lost the determination to do what needed to be done. She exited Naruto's bedroom for the last time and started walking towards the door, but paused when she neared the couch.

Naruto was laying there with a smile on his face. Her heart dropped. He was actually smiling! One look at his face and you would never guess he was about to get a divorce… She couldn't force a smile right now if her life depended on it…

Naruto's smile hurt her badly… but it also affirmed that she was in fact making the right decision. Still… her very body was urging for her to lay down and wrap her arms around him. But she couldn't…

They were getting divorced, and Naruto appeared to be happy about that. Sakura gathered up her mental strength and walked away from the couch and straight to the door. She paused at the door and looked over her shoulder.

She wanted so badly to walk back over and join Naruto on the couch, but she couldn't. She had to do this. She took a deep breath, opened the door and walked out of what used to be her and Naruto's apartment for the last time.

* * *

><p>Naruto's tired eyes were greeted with bright late morning light. His eyes quickly snapped open and Naruto shot up off the couch. He had a headache, but he didn't care. He had an important task he needed to complete. He now knew how to fix his marriage, and he had an angry wife to make happy again.<p>

He quickly hurried to their bedroom with an excited grin on his face. He was finally going to fix everything.

"Wake up Sakura-chan!" Naruto called as he opened the door. He was a little surprised to find the door unlocked but didn't really focus on it. His eyes landed on their bed and quickly widened… it was empty.

"Sakura?" Naruto called out to the apartment. A cold fear started seeping through his body as the only reply he received was silence.

"Maybe she went out to pick something up…" Naruto mumbled. He turned around to leave the bedroom, but he froze when his eyes caught a glint reflected off their dresser.

"No…" Naruto's worst nightmare was confirmed when he saw the engagement ring and the wedding band he had gotten for Sakura on their dresser. His stomach twisted into cold and terrible knots… His worst nightmare had become a reality.

"NO!" Naruto yelled. He knew how to fix everything… but he figured it out too late. He had achieved his dream, he had gained Sakura's love… Only to have his dream torn away… He lost the love of the most important person in his life…

Naruto dropped to his knees. He hated crying, he hated it so much. He never let himself cry anymore, especially now that he was the hokage. But he was in his own home and no one could see him now… And Naruto was thankful for that.

Even with his considerable willpower, Naruto was unable to stop the tears from falling from his eyes. He refused to let himself do anything more than silently cry, he would not sob… but he wanted to.

He sat on his knees crying and feeling sorry for himself for what seemed like a year, but was actually only a few minutes before he took a deep breath.

"No…" Naruto muttered again. "No, I can fix this." He forced his tears to come to a halt and stood up. He would not lose his wife. He made a mistake last night when he gave into his fear and he had almost lost his wife because of it.

Naruto quickly headed into his bathroom. He would shower, put on something nice and then go fix everything with his wife. By the end of tonight Sakura would be back in his arms, blissfully unaware of the perfect Christmas gift he had waiting for her tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Sakura lay on her old bed in her old room staring up at the ceiling. She was numb, pure and simple. This all felt so surreal to her… She had feared that this was where their marriage was headed, but deep down she never truly believed that it would actually happen. Deep down she had always believed her and Naruto would work everything out…<p>

"Can I get you anything honey?" Her father's soft voice asked from the other side of her door. She smiled. Her parents welcomed her back into their home with sympathy and love. Her dad's response was particularly amusing.

_FLASHBACK_

_Sakura focused pushing the tears that wanted to fall back as she knocked on her parents' door. She idly wondered what Naruto would do when he woke up and found that she had left… Judging from the smile he wore in his sleep he would be happy…_

"_Sakura? What are you doing here so early?" Her dad asked after opening the door to find her standing there._

"_Can I come in?" Sakura quietly asked._

"_Of course you can sweetie, come in!" Makato Haruno stepped to the side to allow his little girl to enter the house._

"_Sakura? It's nice to see you dear. I didn't expect to see you until tomorrow."_

"_Yeah…" Sakura shakily replied. "Well… I would actually like it if you guys saw me more often."_

"_We would love that honey." Makato replied. "But what brings about this sudden change?"_

"_Well…I sorta want to move back in with you guys." Sakura answered. _

"_Well of course you can honey. We'll make up your room for you and Naruto." Her mom smiled._

"_What happened to your apartment?" Her dad added._

"_Well that's the thing… Naruto and I…" Sakura paused as her mouth suddenly became extremely dry. What she was about to say was going to make everything real… "I'm divorcing Naruto."_

"_WHAT?" Makato gasped. "But you love that boy!"_

"_It's not enough dad…" Sakura whispered. She was coming dangerously close to losing her mental battle with her tears._

"_Honey, whatever happened, I'm sure you two can work it out. You love Naruto and he loves you…"_

"_He doesn't want to work on our marriage Mom." Sakura retorted. "He's given up…"_

"_THAT LITTLE BASTARD!" Makato yelled. "HOKAGE OR NOT I'M GOING TO KICK HIS ASS!"_

"_Dad don't!" Sakura quickly protested with a smile. She appreciated how protective her dad was of her. But she didn't want to cause any more problems for Naruto. She had caused enough for him by attempting to marry him…_

"_No Sakura! No one hurts my little girl and gets away with it, I'm going to…"_

"_I'm fine Dad." Sakura lied as tears started to gather in her eyes._

"_But…"_

"_Makato not now." Sakura's mother interrupted. "Come here honey." Kaori Haruno opened her arms and Sakura gratefully entered her mother's comforting embrace. The tears she had been struggling to keep from coming out started leaking from her eyes._

"_I always thought that being in love would be enough." Sakura whispered into her mother's neck._

"_Sometimes things just aren't meant to be honey… Even when we want them to be." Her dad gently hugged her from behind. Sakura was sandwiched in a comforting embrace from both of her parents._

"_I just really wish this would have been…"_

"_I know honey, but you're going to be ok." Her mother comforted._

_Sakura smiled. "Thanks guys… Do you mind if I go up to my room and take a nap? I didn't get much sleep last night."_

"_Of course honey. Go get a nice rest." Kaori smiled down at her daughter._

_FLASH IN_

Sakura wasn't surprised that her dad was checking on her. Even though she told him she wanted to take a nap, she knew he probably wanted to do anything he could do to make her feel better…

"No Dad, I'm fine. But thanks." Sakura replied. "I really am going to take a nap now."

"Ok sweety; sleep tight."

Sakura smiled, she appreciated how much her parents cared about her. She was in for a rough couple of months… probably more like a rough couple of years. But with her parents love and support, she would get through it.

She felt numb right now… but eventually she would get past this…

* * *

><p>A freshly showered Naruto walked up to Sakura's parents' door with a determined glint in his eye. He wore a pair of black dress pants and a simple white button-up shirt, and a nice black dress cloak Sakura had bought him during their first month of marriage. He knew what he had to do, and he was going to do it. Naruto walked to Sakura's parents' house by himself, but he knew he would walk home with Sakura by his side.<p>

He firmly knocked on the door and took a deep breath. It was time to fix this.

Sakura's father opened the door and instantly glared at him when he saw it was Naruto who knocked.

"What do you want?" Makato growled.

"I'm here to speak to Sakura." Naruto replied without flinching. He could understand the man's anger, but he wouldn't let it deter him.

"She doesn't want to talk to you. So leave before I kick your ass."

Naruto couldn't help but respect Makato. Makato knew that Naruto was far stronger than him, yet he was threatening Naruto without fear to protect his daughter…Well, he thought he was protecting his daughter anyways.

"No. Let me talk to Sakura now." Naruto ordered in his authoritative hokage voice. Nothing was going to stop him from fixing everything.

"I said she doesn't want to talk to you. So she's not going to talk to you. Now leave before you and I have to make a scene."

"Let. Me. Talk. To. My. Wife." Naruto growled. While he respected Makato's courage and protectiveness of Sakura, he was getting annoyed. He had to fix everything with Sakura, and Makato was getting in his way.

"She's not your wife anymore." Makato growled.

"We're not divorced yet." Naruto growled back. "Let me talk to her so I can fix everything."

"I'm giving you to the count of three to leave Naruto." Makato warned.

"I'm not leaving!"

"One…"

"I mean it Makato, let me speak to Sakura!"

"Two…"

"I am ordering you as the hokage of this village, let me speak to my wife."

"Three!"

"Sakura, I know you're there… just…" Naruto started to yell, but his mouth snapped shut as he ducked under Makato's punch.

His instinct was to strike back, but he figured beating up Sakura's dad would make fixing everything a little more difficult. He leaped backwards to put some distance between himself and the older man.

"What are you doing?" Naruto hissed.

"I warned you what would happen if you don't leave. You hurt my little girl; if you don't leave I'm going to kick your ass. I don't care if you're the hokage, and I don't care how strong you are. You hurt my girl, I hurt you."

"Damnit why can't you let me work things out with my wife?" Naruto sighed angrily. He knew what to do to fix everything… He had to fix everything…

"There is no fixing everything!" Makato yelled. "She doesn't want to see you. You gave up on your marriage."

"What? I did not! I know that deep down she hasn't either. I…"

"If she wanted to see you don't you think she would've come out by now?" Makato interrupted as he glared angrily at his soon to be ex son-in-law.

All of Naruto's anger and frustration instantly left his body as Makato's words sunk in. He hadn't exactly been quiet… If Sakura wanted to talk to him she would've come out… But she didn't… Sakura really didn't want to talk to him… She really didn't care that he knew how to fix their marriage…

"I…I…" Naruto stammered. He had no idea what to say now. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He took a deep breath and called upon all of his strength. He was the hokage. He had made too much of a scene already.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience Haruno-san." Naruto finally said as he forced an impassive look on his face. "Have a wonderful Christmas."

Naruto turned around and left before Sakura's father had a chance to reply. He didn't want to hear anything else. He had failed. The woman of his dreams wanted nothing to do with him… Naruto Uzumaki won Sakura Haruno's heart… and then lost it.

* * *

><p>Makato shut the door as Naruto walked away. He was surprised when the boy suddenly gave up, but he was relieved. He might have woken Sakura up if he had gotten any louder.<p>

"Why did you lie to him like that Makato? Sakura was sleeping, I bet she would've talked to Naruto if she was awake to hear that." Kaori asked.

"You and I both know that they have been struggling with their marriage ever since their first month. I was protecting Sakura from getting any more hurt than she already is.

"Do you think we should tell Sakura that Naruto stopped by to see her?"

"No. That would only hurt her more."

Kaori nodded. It was sad for her to admit, but her husband was right.

* * *

><p>Sakura woke up some time later feeling much more refreshed than she was the first time she woke up today. She still felt numb, but at least now her eye lids didn't feel like they weighed a thousand pounds… She got up and walked downstairs where her father and mother were sitting on the couch watching TV.<p>

Her father looked slightly agitated, but Sakura paid it no mind.

"Feeling better honey?" Kaori asked as she smiled at her daughter.

"Yeah."

"So what do you want to do tonight?" Her dad asked.

"I'm actually going to go to Ino and Shikamaru's Christmas party tonight. Ino would kill me if I skipped it."

"Will Naruto be going?"

"I don't know Dad… Probably. But it doesn't matter."

"Are you sure you'll be alright being around him?" Kaori asked.

"I'll be fine." Sakura assured. "Just because he's at the party doesn't mean I have to talk to him. I can just stick with Ino all night."

"If you're sure…"

"I'm sure mom. I'm not going to let this take over my life."

"Ok sweetie, do you want my help in getting ready for tonight?"

Sakura smiled at her mom. Last year her mother made her look like an absolute goddess for this party. She had completely entranced Naruto, not that it was ever hard for her to do.

This time she wanted to look like an absolute goddess again, but for a different reason. It wasn't that she wanted to hurt Naruto, but as a woman, she wanted him to see what he lost because he didn't want to work on their failed marriage. She just couldn't help it.

"Of course! But I think we have some time before I need to get ready, the party isn't until seven." Sakura grinned.

"Well I'll make sure you look even more beautiful than last year then sweetie." Kaori returned her daughter's grin.

"That sounds perfect!" The grin dropped off Sakura's face though as she locked eyes with her father. There was something she needed him to do that she really didn't want to do.

"Dad you're still friends with that lawyer right?"

"Sure am." Makato grinned. "Despite what people say about lawyers, he isn't such a bad guy."

"I need you to have him draw up divorce papers for me and Naruto right away. I want to get this done as quickly and cleanly as possible. Naruto is the hokage, he can't afford to have this process dragged out. I'll deliver the papers to him tonight."

"That's a short time to have divorce papers drawn up… But he owes me a couple of favors, so I'll make sure you have them before you leave tonight."

An awkward silence fell over the room, but Sakura's mother quickly filled it.

"So what do you want to wear tonight Sakura?" She asked with a smile. Sakura knew her mother was just trying to distract her; to keep her mind from dwelling on the fact that she just asked her father to get her divorce papers… and she greatly appreciated it.

* * *

><p>Naruto's fingers trailed over the leather cover of Sakura's Christmas gift that he had worked so hard on.<p>

"100 Things I Love About My Wife… by Naruto Uzumaki…" Naruto whispered as he read the title of the book that was going to be Sakura's gift.

He opened the book and started flipping through it. He had written 100 things he loved about Sakura in this book, and then explained why he loved each thing, and included a fond memory of Sakura doing whatever it was he loved.

He even commissioned Sai to draw a picture for each of the stories. This book was Naruto's masterpiece… Sakura was going to love it… He was going to get to see an actual smile light up her beautiful face.

But that wasn't going to be happening now. The rings lying on his dresser proved that; Sakura didn't want anything to do with him anymore. She had to have heard him saying he knew how to fix everything, yet she didn't come out to see him. She just sat in her house and let her father drive him away…

"I can't think about this…" Naruto muttered as he snapped the book shut. He needed a distraction… He needed something that would keep his mind from wandering. He got up and quickly grabbed his red and white hokage cloak and exited the apartment. He had a very large pile of paperwork sitting in his office that he had planned on waiting until after the holidays to complete, but now that paperwork was his salvation.

It would easily take him the entire day to complete; it was exactly what he needed…

* * *

><p>Sakura stood in front of the mirror examining her reflection. Again, her mother had done a wonderful job. The day had been long, but now she was wearing a little black dress that stopped halfway down her thighs.<p>

A simple pearl necklace drew attention to the gracious amount of cleavage the dress displayed. She also had a cute little pair of black heels on, and a pair of silver earrings were hanging from her ear. Also, once again, her mom gave her just the right amount of makeup. The only thing that was missing from the outfit was two rings that she had come accustomed to wearing over the past year. Two rings that had meant the world to her…

"Thanks Mom." Sakura smiled at the older woman. She picked up her purse which had divorce papers for her and Naruto in it. She hated that she had divorce papers in her purse, but they were necessary.

"Alright, I'm going to get going now. Thanks Mom. I might be home late."

"Have fun sweetie. We'll see you tomorrow." Her dad smiled at her.

Sakura returned her father's smile, waved and stepped out of the house. She didn't want to admit it, but she was actually kind of excited to see Naruto's reaction to her outfit. She didn't want to hurt him, because she still loved him, but she wanted to see the regret flash across Naruto's eyes. She wanted him to see what he was missing out on because he decided their marriage wasn't worth working on…

* * *

><p>Naruto sat in his office staring at the giant completed pile of paperwork as if it was a vile traitor. It was supposed to take him all day and maybe even longer! Instead he flew through the paperwork. It was only seven o' clock and he was finished. His distraction was gone. Now he had nothing to keep his mind from his failed marriage…<p>

He could go to Ino and Shikamaru's Christmas party tonight to try to distract himself, but he knew that Sakura would be there and he didn't want to ruin the party for her… Not to mention seeing her would not make for a good distraction…

Naruto sighed and flared his chakra. One of his personal ANBU guards instantly appeared in front of him.

"How can I be of service Hokage-sama?"

"Please go to Ino and Shikamaru Nara's house and tell them that I regretfully will be unable to attend the party. Tell them that I just have too much work to get done."

"But Hokage-sama, it looks like you've finished all of your work."

"Well looks can be deceiving." Naruto lied with a fake smile. "After you deliver that message, go home. And tell everyone else to go home. I don't need any protection; I can protect myself. You should be home with your family on Christmas Eve."

"But…"

"No buts. By order of the Hokage, go home after delivering your message and enjoy your Christmas Eve."

"Hai Hokage-sama… thank you." The ANBU disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto sighed and opened his desk drawer. When she was hokage, Tsunade installed a secret compartment to hide her sake from Shizune. Naruto never thought he would use that compartment, but he started drinking more and more the worse his marriage got… and Sakura didn't approve.

It was as if it was an unwritten requirement that the hokage's assistant get rid of as many bottles of sake as possible and keep the hokage sober at all times or something. But Sakura never knew about this compartment, and now Naruto found himself pulling out one of the many expensive bottles of sake he had stored away.

Not even bothering to grab a cup, Naruto unscrewed the bottle and took a deep swig. The lukewarm liquid burned a little going down, but it felt good nonetheless. The sake could take the edge off… The sake could be the distraction he now so desperately needed.

* * *

><p>Ino and Shikamaru's house was decorated just as beautifully as it was last year for their party. The white lights were still gorgeous like they were last year in the main Nara hall, and the Christmas tree was even a little larger than the one last year was.<p>

As Sakura sipped on Ino's highly alcoholic eggnog, she found herself excited for Naruto's arrival and she wasn't entirely sure why. Part of her thought that Naruto would show up and they would somehow make up. Another part of her figured that the alcohol in the eggnog would give her the courage she needed to hand Naruto the divorce papers. Then there was another part of her that was just plain excited to see Naruto.

Even though it hadn't even been twenty four hours since she lost saw him, and even though she was divorcing him, Sakura still found that she missed him today. Now that they were getting divorced, it felt like an eternity since she had seen him.

Sakura wasn't entirely sure what she would do when Naruto arrived, but she didn't care. She quickly tipped her cup back and drank the entire cup of eggnog right there. Whatever she was going to do, she figured a little bit of liquid courage would be helpful.

"Naruto didn't come with you Sakura?" Tenten asked as Sakura refilled her cup.

"Nope." Sakura opened her mouth to say that she was divorcing Naruto, but she found that she couldn't say it. "He'll be here later I'm sure."

One of Naruto's personal ANBU guard suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke. He turned towards Sakura and a wave of cold fear flooded through her body. If he was here… he was probably here for her. That meant that something must have happened to…"

"Ino-san, Shikamaru-san, I'm here on the behalf of the Hokage."

Sakura's worry instantly dissipated when she realized that Ino was standing behind her. If the ANBU wasn't here for Sakura, then Naruto was ok. Naruto probably just sent him because he was running late.

"Is that so? And why isn't the Hokage here himself?" Ino asked. She had noticed Sakura arrived alone and was curious, but she hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her best friend yet. She expected Sakura and Naruto to arrive happy and arm in arm.

If Sakura took Ino's advice like she said she was going to, then her talk with Naruto should've gone well yesterday.

"Hokage-sama regrets to inform you that he will not be able to attend the party tonight. He has too much work to get done."

Sakura's eyebrow raised. Naruto had a large stack of paperwork to get done, but none of the paperwork was overly time sensitive. They had decided that Naruto could wait until after New Years to complete it. She frowned when she realized that Naruto sent the ANBU to deliver a lie.

She was stupid to assume Naruto would want to come to this party. Of course he wouldn't want to! He knew she would be here and he was happy to be divorced from her… Sakura lost all motivation to drink and set her cup down.

"I see. Thank you for delivering the message ANBU-san." Shikamaru replied.

"You're welcome. Enjoy your party." Naruto's ANBU guard disappeared in another puff of smoke.

Ino saw her friend's disappointed frown and decided to act quickly. She wasn't sure what was going on, but as Sakura's best friend, it was her job to make sure Sakura had a good time tonight. Whatever had happened to cause Naruto to skip out on the party, Ino knew she had to keep Sakura from thinking about it.

"Alright everyone! Let's do the gift exchange now. Everyone is here."

All of the rookie nine, Sai, and Team Gai gathered around and drew their numbers for the white elephant gift exchange. For the second year in a row, Sakura drew the first number… Unlike last year though, Naruto wasn't going to sneakily switch her number with his.

"Alright, let's get started!" Ino called out.

Sakura stood up and missed having Naruto beat her to the punch like he did last year. Sakura grabbed the first gift she saw and opened up a hand crafted necklace from Sai… just like the one he made last year.

She thanked Sai and returned to her seat. As the gift exchange continued, Sakura barely paid any attention. All she could see were memories of her and Naruto at this very party one year earlier. He had been so cute and sweet… and he looked so handsome in his outfit…

She continued blankly staring forward. She didn't even care when Hinata took the necklace Sai crafted from her. Nor did she care when she opened some more of Gai's "Chronicles of Youth" books with her replacement gift.

Sakura barely even noticed when the gift exchange was finished, nor did she join in when her friends all got up and started dancing.

"So yesterday didn't go so well, eh Sakura?" Ino asked, snapping Sakura out of her blank thoughts.

"No…" Sakura sighed. "Naruto doesn't want to work on our marriage Ino. He broke his promise to me and got drunk instead. So there's no point in trying any more if he doesn't want to try… I'm divorcing him." She quietly admitted.

"WHAT?" Ino gasped.

"Not so loud Ino!"

"Sorry… That's just not what I was expecting. I'm sorry… are you ok? Do you want me to kick Naruto's ass?"

"No." Sakura smiled. "It's alright; I'm alright. It's just a little weird right now is all."

"I imagine it is. Well, grab a drink and have fun. We'll celebrate you being back on the market!"

Sakura offered her friend a weak smile. "Actually Ino… I think I'm going to leave. I'm too distracted to be any fun tonight."

"I understand Sakura. Let me know if you need anything, ok?"

"I will… thanks."

Sakura walked out of the Nara compound and looked up at the Hokage Tower. She had the paperwork for her and Naruto's divorce still… and she needed to give it to him.

"I need to do this sooner than later…" Sakura mumbled beneath her breath. She turned towards the tower and started walking with a determined glint in her eye. What she was about to do was going to be beyond difficult… but it had to be done…

* * *

><p>Four empty bottles of sake were sitting on Naruto's desk, and he was half way through his fifth. He was flying through the bottles. It had only been a little over an hour since he sent his ANBU to deliver his message to Ino, and ever since then had been drinking sake like it was water and he had been trapped in the desert for weeks.<p>

"I bet…*hic* I bet Sakura was relieved to find out I wasn't going to be there." Naruto mumbled.

"Do you really think so?" A voice Naruto recognized quite well asked. The only problem was that the voice belonged to a man who was no longer of this world.

"Dad?" Naruto gasped as he looked up to see the owner of the voice. Surely enough, the legendary fourth Hokage who had died 21 years ago was standing in front of him. Naruto's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull when he saw his dad wasn't alone.

"Mom? Pervy Sage?"

"Hey kid, you don't look so well."

"You haven't been eating your vegetables have you Naruto?"

"What the… how… Are you guys real?"

"What do you think?" Minato grinned.

"I don't know what to think…" Naruto mumbled.

"You've drank a lot of these bottles in such a short time Naruto." Jiraiya pointed out.

"So this isn't real? You guys are just some figment of my drunk imagination?"

Kushina rolled her eyes at her son. "You're a smart boy Naruto, you can figure it out."

Naruto stared at his parents and his sensei, then at the empty bottles of sake, then back to his parents and sensei. All logic told him that they were just a figment of his imagination, but he ignored logic. He could use these people right now… And he had sent his ANBU guard home anyways; no one would see the crazy Hokage drunkenly talking to a wall.

"I missed you guys sooo much! I wish you guys were here…"

"We miss you too Naruto, and believe me, we would love to be here." Minato replied.

"So why is my little boy so drunk?" Kushina asked.

"Well I took your advice mom." Naruto grinned. "I married a girl a lot like you. I love her more than anything in this world, but she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. She's divorcing me…"

"And why is that?" Jiraiya asked.

"Because she's sick of me! She doesn't want to be around me anymore…" Naruto mumbled sadly.

"And you did nothing to prompt that?" Minato asked.

"Well… no… I messed up." Naruto sighed. "Sakura had me promise her I would go home after work so that we could have a talk. I was scared because I was sure that she was going to tell me she wanted a divorce… Then I gave into my fear, broke my promise to Sakura and got drunk…"

"So you admit you made a mistake?" Kushina asked.

"Of course." Naruto answered sadly. "And the worst part was… I figured out how to… *hic* fix our marriage. But I was too late."

"So what are you going to do about it kid?" Jiraiya asked.

"Nothing…" Naruto sighed. "I stopped by her house today to try to fix everything… but she didn't want to see me. There's nothing I can do now."

"So you're giving up." Minato noted.

"I don't have a choice dad…" Naruto mumbled as he finished off his fifth bottle of sake. He reached into his hidden cabinet to grab another, but was stopped by his mother's voice.

"I think you've had enough Naruto. Don't drink anymore."

"No, I need more!"

"No, your mom is right Naruto. You've had more than enough." Jiraiya said.

"Naruto you shouldn't give up just yet." Minato urged. "You should continue fighting for Sakura. You love her don't you?"

"Of course I love Sakura! I love her more than anything in this world!"

"Then fight Naruto, fight with everything you have." Jiraiya urged.

"I… I want to Pervy Sage… But I can't."

"Yes you can Naruto." Kushina assured. "If she's anything like me, you can win her back. But I think you should stop for today. You're in no condition to win anyone back. Go to bed."

"No! I'm fine." Naruto lied. "Please… please don't leave me again… I lost everything today… You guys coming back… you have no idea how much this means to me…"

"Naruto… we aren't real." Minato said with a sympathetic smile. "You're so drunk you're seeing what your mind wants to see."

"I'm not… I'm not drunk!"

"You're pretty drunk kid… and to think, you used to hate sake when you were travelling with me." Jiraiya grinned.

"See? You guys are definitely real. That's something Pervy Sage would say!"

"Naruto…" Kushina gently smiled at her drunk son. "We're really not real. You're just hallucinating."

"No…" Tears slowly started to leak from Naruto's eyes. "No, you're real… you have to be real! Please… please be real."

"You're stronger than this Naruto, and you know it." Minato gently admonished.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get your wife back Naruto. I know you can do it." Jiraiya added.

"We all love you son, and we all believe in you." Kushina added.

"Thank you…" Naruto mumbled. "Thank you for coming."

"Naruto… we're leaving now. Be strong, ok?" Minato gave his son one final smile.

"NO! PLEASE! You can't go yet! I need you guys! You…"

"The real us are always with you Naruto." Kushina smiled. "But you know that."

"No… you're real…" Naruto mumbled. "You're real!"

"Hey kid, is that a giant bowl of ramen outside of your window?"

"WHAT? Where?" Naruto drunkenly snapped his head to his window. A giant bowl of ramen sounded wonderful right now. He was disappointed to see the pitch black of night.

"Haha, very funny Pervy Sage." Naruto mock laughed as he turned his head back towards his parents and sensei. His eyes widened in alarm when he discovered they were no longer there.

"Mom? Dad? Pervy Sage? Where did you guys go?" Naruto desperately asked the empty room. He needed them to come back… He needed more of their encouragement.

His bleary sapphire eyes landed on the empty sake bottles and lit up in understanding. Somehow drinking the sake summoned his parents and Jiraiya.

"That's it!" Naruto mumbled. "I just need more sake. You'll come back again once I drink some more sake right?" He asked the empty room.

Naruto reached into his hidden compartment and pulled out another bottle of sake. He put his hand on the cap, intent on pulling it off so he could bring his family back. But a voice that Naruto loved caused his hand to freeze in place.

"Stop Naruto. You've had quite enough."

* * *

><p>Sakura stood rooted to her spot outside of the Hokage's office in complete shock. She had made fairly good time and marched straight up the stairs, completely determined to deliver the divorce papers to Naruto.<p>

But her determination lessened and was replaced with worry when she couldn't sense any ANBU around to protect Naruto. Sakura didn't plan on letting that worry stop her from doing what she needed to do however…

As she neared the door though, she heard Naruto's voice… He was clearly drunk. So she waited just outside the door and listened in as he appeared to have a conversation... with his parents and Jiraiya. She sensed no other ninja in the area, so she knew that they weren't actually there…

Sakura's heart clenched with the knowledge that Naruto was hurting so bad that he was actually imagining his parents were in front of him and having a conversation with him…

She listened as Naruto told his "parents" and "Jiraiya" how much he loved her, and was particularly surprised to hear that he had stopped by her house to try to fix everything. She made a mental note to ask her parents about that.

She nearly started crying when she heard Naruto start begging his family to stay, and a few tears leaked from her eyes when he insisted they were real.

"That's it!" Sakura's eyes widened alarm when heard Naruto mumble that. "I just need more sake. You'll come back again once I drink some more sake right?"

He sounded like he was extremely drunk, even more drunk than he was last night. And drinking "to bring his family back" was dangerous. It could lead to alcoholism if no one did anything about it.

The divorce papers forgotten, Sakura quickly opened the door to the office.

"Stop Naruto. You've had quite enough." She felt physically sick as she took in Naruto's state. He looked so depressed and tears were shimmering in his eyes... She never wanted to see him look like this.

"Sa…Sakura-chan? The sake made you?" Naruto asked with a happy smile on his face.

"No Naruto, the sake didn't make me." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Where is your ANBU guard?"

"I sent them home imaginary Sakura-chan!" Naruto quipped.

"I'm not… never mind. Why did you send your ANBU home baka? You're the hokage, you can't leave yourself unprotected like this!"

"I'm fineee. I can handle anyone." Naruto drunkenly boasted.

"Anyone can handle you right now you mean." Sakura sighed. "Come on, let's get you home." Sakura walked up to Naruto and picked him up.

"Whoah… You're one hell of a hallucination." Naruto mumbled in awe. "I can only imagine what everyone is going to see… They'll probably think I'm magical or something."

"Mmmhmm." Sakura walked out of the office and slowly started to walk towards her and… towards Naruto's apartment.

"You know imaginary Sakura-chan… I miss the real you." Naruto slurred. "I wish you were real right now, so I could tell you that I figured everything out. I know how to fix everything now…"

"Oh?" Sakura asked. It was taking all of her willpower not to gasp.

"Yeah… I realized our marital problems are just as much my fault as they are hers… I was going to ask her what she wanted to work on, and then tell her what I wanted to work on…"

"Really?" Sakura couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Yeah… I was going to fix everything…. But now it's too late. Now I'm drunk being carried home by the hottest figment of my imagination everrr."

"Hottest ever eh?" Sakura giggled.

"Definitely! You're the most beautiful woman in the world imaginary Sakuraaaa! Well… I'm sure the real Sakura-chan is more beautiful… no offense."

"Oh none taken." Sakura grinned. She couldn't believe it. Naruto actually wanted to work on their marriage just as she did. Things could work out! But she had one question she needed answered first.

"So if you want to work things out with this… real Sakura… how come you broke your promise to her? You've never broken a promise to her before…"

"Because I was terrified!" Naruto yelled. "She said she wanted to talk… I was sure that our talk was just going to be her saying she wanted to divorce me… I couldn't handle it. So… I gave into my fear and broke my promise… I wish I hadn't now… I've never backed down from anything else before…"

Sakura's eyes softened and she kissed her drunk husband's cheek. "Well that was stupid baka, but I guess I understand why you were scared."

"Wow, your kiss feels like Sakura's kiss!" Naruto gasped. "Now if only you were the real Sakura-chan… she didn't even want to talk to me today…"

"Don't give up just yet Naruto." Sakura smiled as she saw _their _apartment in the distance.

"I don't have a choice…" Naruto sighed. "She doesn't want to be around me… I can only imagine how happy she was when I didn't show up to Ino's party tonight…"

"I have it on good authority that she was disappointed." Sakura grinned. "I also have it on good authority that Sakura is looking forward to talking with you and getting our marriage back on track."

"Why do you have to be a figment of my imagination." Naruto sadly sighed.

Sakura giggled again as she opened the door to their apartment. "Mmmhmm. Well I'm going to put you to bed. You get some sleep ok? I promise everything is going to be better tomorrow. Got it?"

"Whatever imaginary Sakura-chan…"

Sakura walked into their bedroom and set Naruto down on the bed. She didn't even notice when Naruto's foot pressed against her purse and caused it to tip forward. Nor did she notice when the divorce papers she no longer had a use for dropped out of the purse and onto the ground. She was too focused on her drunk husband.

She thought about crawling into bed with Naruto and cuddling up with him, but her parents were expecting her home. There was no need to make them worry tonight. She could get back here before Naruto woke up.

She leaned down and kissed Naruto's forehead.

"I'll be by tomorrow, ok Naruto?"

"I don't think I have enough sake in the apartment to summon you Sakura." Naruto mumbled sadly causing Sakura to giggle again.

"You won't need it. Now go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

"Love you too imaginary Sakura…" Naruto mumbled as his eyes closed. Sakura leaned down and softly kissed his lips, which caused his sleeping face to light up in a smile.

She exited the bedroom without noticing the divorce papers laying perfectly up on the floor, as if she placed them there herself.

Humming happily, Sakura walked home to tell her parents the good news. It looked like she was going to get what she wanted for Christmas for the second year in a row after all.

* * *

><p>Dun dun dun! How's this story going to conclude? Stay tuned as the conclusion is coming soon =)<p> 


	3. December 25

And here are at the conclusion of this story. I'm just going to jump right past the disclaimer, and straight to the part where I say,

Please do enjoy, "All We Want For Christmas" - December 25

* * *

><p>Naruto's head was pounding as he slowly stirred awake. He wasn't entirely sure how he got home as his eyes landed on his and Sakura's clock, which reported that it was six in the morning. He thought about going back to sleep, but he needed to go to the bathroom.<p>

He got out of bed and quickly ran into their bathroom to relieve himself. Walking out, he noticed some papers lying on the ground near his bed. Naruto picked the papers up and felt his stomach twist into knots when he read them.

"Divorce papers…" Naruto muttered. "Divorce papers…"

Naruto plopped down on his butt in the middle of his floor. He had a hazy memory of having an imaginary Sakura carrying him… And imaginary Sakura seemed to be receptive to him. But this was real life… not his imagination. The real Sakura wanted nothing to do with him.

"This is what she wants…" Naruto mumbled. He grabbed the papers and walked into his living room, where he took a seat at his kitchen table. Naruto didn't want to sign these papers… But he didn't have a choice.

Sakura didn't want to talk to him… There was no way he could work with her to fix their marriage if she didn't want to talk to him. With a sad sigh, Naruto signed his name to the divorce papers.

"I guess this will be Sakura's Christmas gift this year…" Naruto folded the papers up and put them in an envelope which he promptly wrote, "Merry Christmas Sakura" on. Naruto threw on his cloak and exited the apartment.

_I should visit Suna…_ Naruto thought himself as he walked to Sakura's parents' house to officially end his marriage. _Gaara has one of my three-pronged kunai's, so I wouldn't need to get any of my ANBU guard… All I would need to do is fill out the necessary paperwork and get Baa-chan to act as hokage in my absence._

Far sooner than he would like, Naruto found himself standing outside of Sakura's parents' house. He knocked on the door, with much less force than the last time he knocked.

The door open and Sakura's father again opened it, and again scowled at him. He and Kaori had been asleep when Sakura got him last night.

"What do you want? It's Christmas, do you really have to ruin my daughter's day today?"

"I've come to give Sakura her Christmas gift." Naruto quietly said as he handed Makato the envelope.

"She doesn't want your gift." Makato growled.

"She wants that one… It's the divorce papers she left with me… I signed them for her."

Makato's eyes widened. "Oh… well… thank you."

"Yep." Naruto mumbled. "One more thing, I'm taking a trip to Suna. The paperwork I fill out technically requires the Hokage's assistant's signature since I'm sorta leaving at the last minute. I'm going to try to leave her out of it, but if someone comes by requesting her signature, would you please ask her to sign it?"

"You're going to Suna?"

"I'm going to visit the Kazekage." Naruto explained.

"I'll pass your message along."

Naruto nodded his thanks and turned around to leave, but his now ex father-in-law's voice stopped him.

"Naruto… I'm sorry things didn't work it. But I'm proud how well you handled this. Even though I'm angry at you for hurting my daughter, I appreciate your maturity."

"Yeah… See ya Haruno-san." Naruto walked off to the Hokage's office. He just had some paperwork to fill out then he could get the hell out his beloved village for Christmas.

* * *

><p>Sakura woke up in her old bed in her old room with a giant smile on her face. She rolled over to see her clock that told her it was eight in the morning. With how drunk Naruto got last night, he was going to be asleep for a while.<p>

She got out of bed and bounded down the stairs to tell her parents the good news.

"Mom, Dad! Guess what!" Sakura called excitedly.

"Oh, good morning Sakura. Naruto stopped by this morning with a Christmas gift for you." Her father replied instead of asking 'what' like she had hoped.

"Really? He was already awake?"

"Yep, I think you're going to like this overall." Her dad handed her an envelope that said 'Merry Christmas Sakura' on written on it.

She smiled softly as she opened the envelope, but the smile quickly left her face and was replaced with a look of horror when she realized what was in the envelope.

"How the hell did he get this?" Sakura swore as she pulled the divorce papers she planned on tearing up. She went to tear the papers apart, but froze.

Even if she hadn't intended for Naruto to ever see these… he signed the divorce papers. He was drunk yesterday when he was telling her that he wanted to work on their marriage… What if that was just the alcohol talking?

His signature was clear; it wasn't shaky like it would be if he signed it when he was drunk. That meant that Naruto agreed to divorce her when he was sober… When he was thinking clearly…

"I know this is hard Sakura, but this is for the best." Makato soothed.

Her father's words, as generic as they were, suddenly made everything crystal clear to Sakura.

"No... this isn't for the best. You don't understand what happened." Sakura tore the papers up. Naruto had such an honest look in his eyes yesterday. He probably somehow found the papers this morning and assumed she left them with him to sign.

"What are you doing?" Her father gasped.

"I found out yesterday that my husband wants to work on our marriage." Sakura smiled. "That's all I want for Christmas Dad."

"But… he signed your divorce papers."

"He wasn't supposed to have them in the first place. I don't know how they ended up in his hands, but he must have assumed I purposefully left them with him and signed them."

"Did I just hear that you're going to work everything out with Naruto?" Sakura's mother asked as she entered the living room from the kitchen where she was busy preparing breakfast.

Sakura smiled at her mom. "That's right. You guys can plan on having the Uzumakis over again for Christmas tonight. Now I need to go home so I can clear everything up with my husband."

"You might want to hurry honey." Makato advised. "Naruto told me he's planning on taking a trip to Suna today. If you want to spend your Christmas with him, you need to get to him before he leaves."

"WHAT? Damnit!" Sakura swore. She grabbed a coat and quickly sprinted out of her parents' house and towards the Hokage Tower. Both her and Naruto were finally ready to grow together, she was NOT going to let him get away.

* * *

><p>Naruto finished filling out the paperwork he needed to take his trip to Suna. He summoned a toad to take the scroll to Tsunade. As his acting replacement while he was away on his trip, all he needed was Tsunade's approval and he could leave.<p>

He sat back in his office and waited for his toad summon's return. He prayed that Tsunade wouldn't send the paperwork to Sakura to sign. He didn't want to wait any longer in Konoha today. It was just too painful.

But the most important reason for his trip, was that he didn't want to be the hokage when Sakura officially filed the paperwork for their divorce. The hokage had to sign the paperwork to legalize it, and Naruto didn't want to have to make his divorce with the love of his life official.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

_Please hurry up Baa-chan…_

* * *

><p>Sakura leaped from rooftop to rooftop at a record pace for her. She knew very well that Gaara had one of Naruto's special kunai. He could get to Suna in a flash, whereas it would take her at least a day to get there if she missed him.<p>

If Sakura didn't make it in time, she wouldn't get to spend her first Christmas as a married woman with her husband. That thought was unacceptable. Sakura pumped more chakra into her legs and sped up. As she approached the Hokage Tower, she didn't even bother walking in the front door. There was no time for that.

Sakura sprinted up the side of the Hokage's Tower and up to the window of Naruto's office. Relief flooded through her when she saw her husband leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed.

With the grace of an elite ninja, Sakura silently opened the office window and crept into _their _office. She was a little disappointed that Naruto didn't notice her presence, but she guessed he was a little distracted by thinking she wanted to divorce him.

She silently crept up so she was standing right in front of Naruto. Without making a single noise, Sakura leaned down and softly pressed her lips into her husband's. She nearly laughed when Naruto's eyes shot open in surprise.

Naruto went to snap his head back, probably to ask her what the heck Sakura was doing, but Sakura grabbed the back of his head and held it firmly in place so she could continue kissing her husband.

Sakura slipped her tongue into Naruto's mouth and startled to battle Naruto's own tongue with her own as she sat down on his lap and wrapped her legs around him, keeping him securely locked where he was. She was about to start having a little more fun with her husband, but a puff of smoke interrupted them.

"Ummm… here's the forms you wanted boss." A little toad awkwardly mumbled.

Naruto went to open his mouth, but Sakura silenced him by pressing her finger against his lips.

"Thank you, you can destroy those papers though and go home."

"Umm… alright." The toad replied. It disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Now… where were we?" Sakura asked her captive husband.

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto gasped the second Sakura took her finger off his lips. "I just filled out your divorce papers… And now you're…you just…"

Sakura silenced Naruto by softly kissing him.

"You weren't supposed to see those papers. I found out from your drunk self that you wanted to work on our marriage yesterday… I don't want to divorce you Naruto… I never want to divorce you… I just didn't think I had any other choice. But now that I know you're willing to work with me, I know we can make this work."

"Really?" Naruto asked with a hopeful smile on his face.

"Really. Now take us home. I miss my rings."

Naruto grinned and in a flash, Sakura found herself back in their apartment.

Sakura smiled coyly at Naruto. "Now you lay right there and wait for me to get my rings back on." She quickly put her rings back on and examined her hand. Her hand just looked right with the rings marking her as Naruto's on.

She took off her pants and jacket so she was only wearing her t-shirt and her panties and pounced on her husband.

"Now then Hokage-sama… are you ready to resume where we left off in your office?" Sakura asked with a sexy smile on her beautiful face.

Naruto smiled at his wife as he grabbed his hands and placed them on her ass. She pressed her lips against Naruto's. They could talk about their marriage later… right now both of them wanted to do something they had been too busy constantly arguing to do in months.

* * *

><p>An hour later found a thoroughly exhausted Naruto and Sakura happily cuddling each other in bed.<p>

"God I missed that." Naruto grinned.

"Me too… I especially missed your stamina." Sakura agreed.

Naruto examined the beautiful goddess in his arms. She was his again… But he knew this wouldn't last if he didn't take Iruka, Kakashi and Sasuke's advice. He needed to work with Sakura if he wanted their marriage to work. He knew the conversation he was about to start might end with her getting pissed off, but it had to happen.

"Sakura-chan… I hate how insane you are when it comes to cleaning. We don't need everything ordered alphabetically in my opinion, nor does each and every thing need to have a predetermined spot where it has to go. Also, we should be able to wait until we actually need to do chores before doing them." Naruto decided just to dive straight into the conversation. He didn't really see the point of trying to ease into it.

Sakura's initial instinct was anger, but she knew what Naruto was doing. He was trying to work with her.

"And I hate how messy and unorganized you are. And I hate how you make me into the bad guy all the time."

"I make you into the bad guy?"

"I didn't think you realized you were doing it." Sakura smiled as she leaned her head against her lover's chest. "But you do it all the time. For example, just two days ago at the orphanage, you knew that you had an important meeting to go to. Yet when the kids asked you to stay, you looked at me for permission, knowing full well that the answer was going to be no. You forced me into a position where I had to say no and the kids viewed me as the bad guy."

"I'm sorry!" Naruto quickly apologized. "I didn't realize, I…"

"Shhh…" Sakura shushed. "Just be mindful of it, and try to stop doing it. I hate being the bad guy."

"I will!" Naruto promised. He couldn't believe that he had made Sakura the bad guy. She was about as far from a bad guy as anyone could get.

"Your turn. Tell me what you want me to work on."

"I know you like to be organized Sakura, but do we really need to have all of our groceries organized alphabetically? You have to admit that is going overboard."

"Well… maybe it's a little crazy." Sakura admitted with a slight smile. "But it makes things so much easier!"

"It makes everything a much bigger headache." Naruto countered.

"Fine. But all groceries still need to be put away!"

"Deal. Alright… we got that out of the way, now what?"

"Chores?"

"Right now?" Naruto groaned.

"No silly." Sakura giggled. "We've had a lot of fights about that, why don't we decide who does what right now? I'll take care of all the cooking if you take care of the laundry."

"Really? You would cook all of her dinners without any complaints?"

"As long as you make sure my laundry is clean, of course."

"You got yourself a deal Sakura." Naruto grinned. Sakura was a much better cook than he was. That was a great deal in Naruto's opinion.

"But you let me do the laundry when I want to. If I don't think we need to do any, you don't nag me about it."

"Fine." Sakura sighed. "But I retain the right to start nagging if I start to run out of clean clothes."

"Deal." Naruto chuckled.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Sakura spent the next hour cuddled together talking through their marriage. They gave each other the opportunity to discuss what exactly they disliked about their marriage, and what they wanted to work on together.<p>

By the end of that hour, their relationship was stronger than it had ever been. Both were positively glowing they were so happy, and the funny thing was that neither of them "won."

Naruto didn't convince Sakura to stop being so obsessed with keeping their apartment spotless, nor did Sakura convince Naruto of the importance of keeping their apartment neat and organized. But as couples do, they compromised.

Sakura agreed to let up a little and be a little more lenient if Naruto agreed to start picking up after himself more.

While neither Sakura nor Naruto "won" their discussion individually, they would both agree that they won as a couple.

"Thank you Naruto for doing this. This was exactly what I wanted for Christmas." Sakura smiled as she kissed her husband's chest.

"Likewise Sakura. But I got you another Christmas gift that I think you're going to like!"

"And I got you a gift I think you're going to like too."

"Well… want to get up then? I need to wrap your present, but then we can exchange them."

"Sure. I need to wrap yours too and I call dibs on the bedroom!"

"You can't call dibs without any sort of warning!" Naruto half-heartedly protested casing Sakura to stick her tongue out at him. Naruto kissed his gorgeous wife and got himself out of bed.

"Close your eyes!" Naruto ordered. He couldn't have Sakura getting an early peek of her gift. Sakura complied and Naruto hastily grabbed the book he had written for her and scampered out of the room.

"Ok, you can open your eyes again Sakura." Naruto called once he was safely in the living room. He quickly wrapped the book in wrapped paper and waited for Sakura. A few minutes later, Sakura came out with a wrapped gift of her own… and to Naruto's delight, she still wasn't wearing pants.

"Open it Sakura-chan!" Naruto said excitedly as he thrust his gift into his wife's hands.

Sakura complied and quickly tore the wrapping paper off. Her eyes lit up as she read the title of the book, and strangely enough, she wore an amused smile on her face.

"Where did you get the idea to do this?" Sakura asked as she flipped through the pages. She chuckled as she read about how Naruto loved it when she kept him grounded and Sai drew a picture of her whapping him upside the head.

"It was all my idea!" Naruto announced with a proud smile.

"Is that so… well that makes more sense now." Sakura snapped the book shut and looked into Naruto's eyes with an excited smile of her own.

"Open your gift!"

Naruto tore open the wrapping paper and was surprised to find a leather-bound book.

"100 Things I Love About My Husband… by Sakura Haruno." Naruto read out loud with a surprised look on his face.

"Sai gave me the idea to do this… I guess after he drew all the drawings in yours he decided it would be a good idea for me to write you this book."

Naruto flipped his book open and started scanning through it.

"You love my obsession with ramen?" Naruto noted as he came across a picture of him happily slurping ramen up with Sakura smiling softly at him.

"It's cute." Sakura admitted. She grabbed Naruto's book from his hand and shifted herself so she could sit directly in his lap.

"Why don't we read our books to each other? You can read mine to me, and I'll read yours to you."

Sakura's butt that was clad only in a pair of tight panties was currently resting comfortably in Naruto's lap, so he was prepared to say yes to practically anything she said… but he particularly liked that idea and wrapped his arms around his wife.

"Wanna do one page at a time? I'll read you a page from yours, then you can read me a page from mind?"

"I can't think of a better way to spend our first Christmas as a married couple." Sakura sighed happily.

She opened her book so Naruto could read it over her shoulder.

"What I love about my wife, #1…" Naruto started reading.

* * *

><p>Many many hours later, Sakura and Naruto were nearly finished reading each other their books, but they needed to go to dinner at Sakura's parents' house so they agreed to take a break.<p>

Naruto was sad to see his beautiful wife put on a pair of pants, but he knew it was necessary. He put on a nice outfit of his own, and the two walked arm in arm down the street to Sakura's parents.

Unlike the past few months, the smiles currently plastered on their faces were 100 percent authentic. They weren't forcing themselves to loop their arms together for appearances sake, they just generally wanted to be as close to each other as possible.

"When you thought we were getting divorced, you didn't go and cancel my parents' gifts did you?" Sakura asked as they neared the house. She knew Naruto's answer was going to be no, but she had to double check just to make sure.

"Of course not!"

"Good. They're going to love their cruise."

"I guess. I still don't think it's the best gift. Boats suck."

"Well I'm their daughter and I know better than you." Sakura teased. "And just because you can't handle riding on a sail boat doesn't mean boats suck."

"Tch, says the girl who never had to ride on one. We'll see who's right when your parents get back!"

"Want to make it interesting?" Sakura asked with a mischievous smile on her pretty face.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I will bet you that my parents will absolutely love their cruise. If I win you have to do whatever I say for a full week, if you win, I have to do whatever you say for a full week."

"Anything?" Naruto asked as his mind conjured an image of Sakura wearing sexy lingerie while he casually threw his socks on the floor.

"Anything." Sakura confirmed as her mind conjured an image of Naruto tied up in their bed in their perfectly organized apartment.

"You got yourself a bet Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smirked. She purposefully failed to tell Naruto that her parents went on a cruise for their honeymoon and loved it. She also purposefully failed to tell Naruto that the cruise tickets they bought for her parents were the exact same route of the cruise her parents took on their honeymoon.

They knocked on the door to Sakura's parents' house as they approached, and yet again, Makato Haruno answered the door. He carefully examined his daughter's smiling face and then looked at their intertwined arms.

"Welcome you two, come on in." He greeted with a warm smile. As soon as they walked inside, Makato grabbed Naruto's arm.

"Naruto, I need your help moving some stuff. Follow me."

Naruto gulped nervously as he was led into the other room by the man who had threatened to kick his ass just a day earlier. As soon as they got out of earshot from the living room, Makato finally spoke up.

"I see you worked things out with my baby girl."

"Yeah… we had a long talk today and we got everything on track. Our relationship is honestly stronger than it ever has been."

"Is what happened these past few months ever going to happen again?"

"Of course not!"

"What's going to happen the next time you two have a fight?"

"We'll talk about it"

"You don't always want to talk about it when you have a fight Naruto, and you can't always force yourself to either. So what will you do when that situation arises?"

"I don't know… But whatever problem we have, I will work with my wife to solve it."

Makato grinned. "Good answer. Do you swear you're telling me the truth?"

"Of course I am!"

"Good. Then I'm happy you're back together with my daughter. Although just a word of warning- If you hurt her like that again, I will take you out."

Naruto smiled at his father-in-law. "Don't worry Makato, I don't plan on hurting my wife like that ever again."

"Then Konoha doesn't have to worry about losing it' hokage any time soon!" Makato joked causing both men to start laughing.

* * *

><p>"So everything is alright now?" Sakura's mother asked with a hopeful smile on her face.<p>

"Yep!" Sakura beamed happily. "We talked it all out, and we agreed to grow together. I've never been happier, and our relationship is stronger than it's ever been."

"Welcome to marriage Sakura." Kaori smiled. "I'm proud of you two. You finally made it past one of the first big humps. You two still have many challenges ahead of you, but it sounds like you two have a good base to work from. I know you'll be fine."

"Thanks Mom, I agree." Sakura smiled in return. As Naruto and her father re-entered the room, Sakura smiled softly at him.

She knew that as a couple, they both got what they wanted for Christmas. They got their marriage, and they got the security that came with a strong marriage. Looking into each other's eyes, they both just knew that they would be together until the end of time. There was nothing that was going to tear them apart ever again.

Sakura grabbed Naruto's hand and gave it a squeeze. It had been a difficult six months; but they had managed to survive and were stronger for it. Sakura leaned into her husband as her mother started telling her all about the potatoes she made for Christmas dinner.

It turned out, that the Uzumaki's first Christmas was going to be perfect after all.

* * *

><p>Fin! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!<p>

I hope you enjoyed this story overall. I tried something different in that it wasn't one large fluff fest, and I actually tried to write in real problems for Naruto and Sakura's relationship. It was weird for me, but I enjoyed it and I'm happy with how it turned out. I'm quite curious as to what your thoughts are on this story. Did you like it? Did the problems that Sakura and Naruto face seem believable? Was there making up believable?

Let me know your thoughts via review!

See ya next time!

-NaruDeeds


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